The advent of social networking, instant messaging, and ubiquitous wireless data networks allows individuals to select from a plurality of methods to communicate with their contacts. In the past, communications between individuals were limited to physical mail, wired telephones, fax, and wireless telephones. However, with the expansion of the Internet, coupled with mobile devices capable of maintaining a data connection to the Internet, users may select from a plethora of communications means, such as: cellular phone calls, e-mail to multiple accounts, multiple instant messaging protocols, twitter messages, voice-over-IP (VoIP) calls, video chats, SMS and MMS messages, social networking messages, voicemail, push-to-talk (PTT), and dedicated notification-based message clients such as the BLACKBERRY Messenger and KIK Messenger. Typically, users are less concerned by the actual communications method used with their contacts, and more concerned with the content of the communication and to or from whom it was conveyed.
Mobile devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and personal computers often communicate through wireless networks provided by cellular carriers. Modern 3G and 4G networks, both CMDA2000-based and GPRS-based, permit simultaneous access of wireless data through the packet-switched portion of its wireless cellular network and voice data through the circuit-switched portion of its wireless cellular network. Modern wireless cellular networks permit simultaneous communication through the packet-switched data portion of their networks and through their short message service (SMS) channels. Additionally, wireless devices may also communicate through one or more wireless LANs, such as 802.11 WI-FI networks. Based on service coverage and the location of a wireless device, a given wireless device may have varying degrees of connectivity. Typically, users are less concerned with the actual data channel used to deliver or receive a message, and more concerned with the content of the communication and to or from whom it was conveyed.